Hey everyone!
Mine is a long story, but I'll try only to hit the highlights.
I was a little scrawny kid and teen. I never had to think about my weight or food. Then I hit my mid-20s, and I had an adult job that paid good money. That meant that I could eat and drink anything I wanted, any time. And so, I did. Soon I was 160 lbs.
I joined Weight Watchers--back in the old days before there were points--and lost 30 pounds. But I made my first big mistake: I didn't stay for Maintenance.
My story after that becomes one of slow weight gain with attempts now and then to lose. The gain was very slow, though--and so it crept up on me. Meanwhile, I gained success at my job--even more money for very expensive meals.
I moved, I got new jobs, I had relationships and break-ups, and all the while my weight was going up, then down a little, then up more. The "fat acceptance" movement only gave me an excuse to ignore my unhealthy weight.
But I knew this was not good.
So I tried to lose weight again. I tried different eating patterns and programs. They lasted for awhile. Then I tried exercise as the answer. I jogged around tracks, I rode a bicycle up hills and down, I joined a gym and used cardio machines and lifted weights. But somehow my calorie restriction and my exercise never coincided! I did find, though, that exercise alone wouldn't work.
The trouble was, I was thinking short-term through all this. When I did lose weight, I'd get down ten or twelve pounds, and then "something" would happen. A crisis. A new project. A change of some sort. Suddenly I would abandon my plan! And then I'd go back to my habits!
One day I was 198 pounds. I joined Curves. I lost a dozen pounds. I stopped watching what I ate--and started to gain them back. My mother passed away, and I could no longer fit into my nice clothes to go to her memorial celebration. I had to buy new size 20 clothing.
I decided this had to change.
So, last year I finally began counting calories in a serious way. I started logging everything in Fitday. I came up with a plan for calorie restriction, using my BMR, and for exercise. Hey, I KNEW how to diet! That wasn't the problem! There had been two problems in the past:
(1) not staying with the plan
and
(2) thinking I would be done and could go back to my old habits.
This time, I got clear on both of those. I also joined a gym again and got trained in the equipment. I learned what I needed to do--and it was harder than I had hoped, but I was WILLING to do WHATEVER I had to do.
155 is not my final weight--but it's where I'm stopping for now. I need to try maintenance FOR REAL for awhile. And then, I'm planning to drop further. I'm 5'3" and I want to have my numbers in the "normal" range instead of "overweight." I'm thrilled no longer to be "obese"!
And, I haven't weighed this little in... well... 20 years. So it's like a new body to get used to!
I Made Up My Mind
